On March 1st, 2007 Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), a former Peace Corps Volunteer of the Dominican Republic, introduced the Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act. This legislation is meant to address the many issues brought forth by returned and current Peace Corps Volunteers regarding project funding, administration oversight and volunteer participation among other things.
What I’d like to do is go through each title and section of the act and break it down. For the sake of space, I’m not posting the legislation in its entirety but the links to each title of the Act.
TITLE I–PROMOTION OF PEACE CORPS PROJECTS AND GOALS
Section 101 - Pertains to seed funding provided by Peace Corps itself. This act allows 1% of the total fiscal year ‘08 (and every subsequent year) budget to be used as seed funding for the volunteers. Volunteers will submit their project proposals to their country directors and once approved, will receive funds not exceeding $1,000.00 per project. At the end of service, volunteers must submit a report on the project that money was funded toward.
Section 102 - States that volunteers can team up with US governmental organizations, NGOs and host country nationals in applying for grants and loans for projects. Before applying for funding or receiving money from friends/family, volunteers must request approval from their respective Peace Corps Country Directors. Once the money is received, records must be kept of all transactions and purchases. Repayment of loans is not addressed.
Section 103 - Provides funding for eligible non-profits and RPCVs to promote the goals of the Peace Corps. Funding under this section applies toward educational programs for elementary and highschool students that teaches about RPCV host countries, teaming up with local libraries to share other cultures and multimedia presentations regarding an RPCVs host country for general educational purposes.
Section 104 - Seeks to double the number of skilled professionals with at least five years of experience before entering Peace Corps. Works toward eliminating barriers to entering Peace Corps. Fiscal years ‘08 - ‘10, 20 sector-specific programs in at least 20 different countries for a minimum of five years of relevant work experience will be established.
Section 105 - This section is a bit ambiguous, it seeks to establish a system for promoting improved communications among Peace Corps volunteers and staff electronically, including password protected websites and email for in-country volunteers to discuss development strategies, funding resources, etc. All Close of Service reports will be available via these websites or e-mail links (?).
I don’t know if password-protected websites refer to an intranet or if this includes using external password protected websites, blogs and other various services, like Google Docs, wikis and so on. It also doesn’t mention the preservation of documented projects for the sake of organizational memory, a rather large omission.
TITLE II–EMPOWERMENT OF PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS
Section 201 - Volunteers will be able to participate admin support staff oversight and shall be given “weight” in decision making regarding contract renewal. Volunteers also get a say in how their program functions with, again, appropriate “weight” given to their views.
Section 202 - Makes VAC a requirement in all countries and allows for quarterly recommendations to Country Director, Chief Administrative Officer, Associate Peace Corps Directors, and Peace Corps Medical Officers. Recommendations shall be forwarded to the Regional Peace Corps Director and appropriate “weight” given to VAC recommendations.
Section 203 - APCDs shall give substantial weight to volunteer recommendations on site selection, new/subsequent volunteers placement and volunteer training curriculum.
TITLE III–PERSONNEL ISSUES AND BENEFITS
Section 301 - Reforms the health screening process by making it more transparent; listing conditions that disqualify people, explaining what conditions can be worked around, allowing input into the process, and allowing appeals to rejections on medical grounds. And most importantly providing full reimbursement for medical screening.
Section 302 - Currently, if a Peace Corps volunteer receives Federal health coverage prior to Peace Corps, they can suspend the coverage and resume enrollment post-service but not for State and local governments, private entities, and other organizations, that will soon change.
Section 303 - The Director of the Peace Corps has to inform Congress of the cost of extending volunteers post-service health coverage from one to five months.
Section 304 - Congress has to figure out what to do with the taxes you might owe if you sell your home to join Peace Corps, similar to what they’ve done with soldiers and the foreign service.
Section 305 - The Secretary of the Treasury and the Peace Corps Director get to decide how much of your gross income they get to keep in taxes after your service.
Section 306 - Volunteers can only be administratively separated from Peace Corps for conduct violations specified in the Peace Corps handbook. Volunteers will receive Whistleblower Protection when reporting the misconduct of Peace Corps staff or advocating for reforms. Volunteers do not need to seek prior approval for publishing stories, articles, or other materials unless it pertains to that volunteer’s host country or program. If a country director prohibits certain material from being published, that decision may be appealed to the Regional Director.
Section 307 - Guidance for volunteers on how to manage finances while serving overseas will be put forth.
TITLE IV–AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
Section 401 - Money. $336,000,000 for fiscal year ‘08, $380,000,000 for fiscal year ‘09, $450,000,000 for fiscal year ‘10, and $618,000,000 for fiscal year ‘11.
To follow the progress of the Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act as it makes its way through committee, you can check it out on GovTrack.us.
UPDATE: Attached is the pdf The Peace Corps Empowerment Act
Last.fm “builds a detailed profile of each user’s musical taste by recording details of all the songs the user listens to, either on the streamed radio stations or on the user’s own computer or iPod. This information is transferred to Last.fm’s database (”Scrobbled”) via a plugin installed into the users’ music player. The profile data is displayed on a personal web page.“
What’s the point of putting FROG on Last.fm?
I’ve received this question a few times from various folks after sending them invites. We’re usually quick to point out that blogs, photos, video and similar records are important to the organizational memory of a group, but song is usually forgotten.
The FROG group on Last.fm - FROG Music - takes into account the collective tastes of it’s members and organizes them into various categories, time-frames and relationships. And this is useful how?
Ultimately I see this adding value to FROG.
Last.fm provides another way for members of FROG to connect, chronicles our musical tastes and gives persona to our organization.
It promotes dialogue among members
FROG members signed up to the Last.fm group can write one another, check out each others musical preferences and listen to recommended songs.
Last.fm chronicles our musical preferences over time
For most of us music is deeply embedded into our culture, is a strong part of our own identities and can quickly draw up deep emotions and memories. This is no different for an organization made up of people. Chronicling the musical tastes of our members will put into context the history of FROG.
FROG Music helps people discover who we are
The musical preferences of FROG will provide the collective flavor for our organization. If you want to know more about who we are, just look at the music that moves us.
Check it out - http://www.last.fm/group/FROG+Music/
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will convene on July 25th to hear testimony on S. 732, The Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act. Witnesses include:
Panel 1
The Honorable Ronald A. Tschetter
Director
Peace Corps
Washington, DC
Panel 2
The Honorable Mark L. Schneider
Former Director of the Peace Corps
Senior Vice President and Special Adviser
on Latin America International Crisis Group
Washington, DC
Mr. David Kotz
Inspector General
Peace Corps
Washington, DC
Panel 3
Ms. Kate Raftery
Country Director, Eastern Caribbean
Peace Corps
Washington, DC
Mr. Chuck Ludlam
Volunteer, Senegal
Peace Corps
Washington, DC
Ms. Paula Hirschoff
Volunteer, Senegal
Peace Corps
Washington, DC
Mr. Kevin Quigley
President
National Peace Corps Association
Washington, DC
Ms. Nicole Fiol
Applicant to the Peace Corps
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
33 members of Guy 19 will be sworn in on July 26th, 2007. From the Guyana Chronicle:
The 19th group of American Peace Corps volunteers, a batch of 33, will be
taking the oath to serve in Guyana on July 26.
The announcement said they will be sworn at the residence of United States
Ambassador, Mr. David Robinson, Cummings Lodge, after an eight-week
training programme that began on June 1.
A press release said they will be assigned within the health, education and
information technology sectors to join 30 others already serving in eight of
the 10 Administrative Regions.
The trainees, who arrived on May 31, have been involved in pre-service
course, with the focus on providing them with opportunities and experience
which would enable them to function effectively in the project areas of
community health education and promotion, the release said.
The release said the course was also to integrate them easily into the
Guyanese society and make them consciously responsible for their personal
health and safety and understand Peace Corps policies and procedures to
enhance their field work.
The statement said, so far, at least 160 volunteers have served in this
country and the new group will be spend two years.
It recalled that the Peace Corps was created by the late President John F.
Kennedy, in March 1961, with the aim of providing human resource technology
assistance to requesting developing countries.
From 1966 through 1971, about 60 of its volunteers did service in Guyana and
the Peace Corps was invited to return, by the late President Dr. Cheddi
Jagan in 1993, resulting in the next batch arriving in 1995.
The statement said Peace Corps is pleased to provide assistance to the
people of Guyana and extends its gratitude to the Government and people for
the hospitality and opportunity it offers the volunteers to assist in
achieving the nation’s development aspirations.
(via candysandwich.net)
Four days in New York were not nearly enough. Four days in a three-room apartment with seven other souls – six of us sharing a bedroom, all of us sharing the bath. At any given point, a dozen of us wandered the city, annoyed people on trains and talked of anything and everything.
“Do you know what I love most about your friends? Your Peace Corps friends?” I asked on the drive home, long after the sun had set and in the last leg or two of the journey.
“What?”
“They’re all flawed.”
I caught his look out of the corner of my eye and continued.
“I mean, we’re all flawed but you all know each other so well that you know the flaws and like each other anyways. That’s pretty awesome.”
“I think that’s the glue that holds us together,” he said. “None of us had anything like that before we went and we haven’t found it since.”
I was not part of it, not the Peace Corps, but they knew me tangentially and welcomed me with open arms. Literally.
“You’ve met before, why no hug?” one girl berated her boyfriend and he leaned in for a hug, all 6 foot, 7 inches of him. I spent much of the weekend in their company. More hugs followed.
Promises would flow – to meet again soon, to write, to call. Many would be broken but the intentions were true. These people knew each other, inside and out, and honestly liked each other. They would come together again and again as they had over the past couple years, their ties growing stronger with coupling and real world friendships and the formation of
their non-profit. Overlapping stories and overlapping lives.
I heard tales from their days in Guyana and their lives since. About drunkenness, defecation, and falling in love - in one couple, all three combined. I heard about falling down and rising up. I knew the characters and most of the places.
I scanned through pictures and asked for names, settings, stories, when he came back for Christmas. I visited twice. I listened. Talked. Shared.
Some of the volunteers are part of my life now, my neighbors, my friends. Others have visited and stayed with my brother. Stayed with me.
I questioned my brother on the way home about jobs and plans and stories half heard. I reviewed the faces and names in my mind.
“It’s not like it matters,” I said. “I just want to know. I like your friends.”
“They’re great.”
For four days, I wished that I had joined the Peace Corps. I knew that I still could and would create my own stories, my own group, if I did, but I wanted this one: Flawed, funny, accepting and great.
Some of the boys might move upstairs. A man from Chicago and a couple from New York plan to visit before summer’s end, and I have invited myself to Argentina. With each visit, we will move farther from Guyana. The stories will grow. They will include me. Some already do.
For four days, I stopped waiting. Waiting for my car. Waiting to find out if I’m sick. Waiting for the Metro and on the Metro. Waiting for meetings to start and meetings to end and for somebody, anybody, to get to the point. Waiting for doctors and movies and lecturers. Waiting to go home and do it all again. A life on hold.
For four days, hours on the subway melted into nothingness as we were together and the journeys eclipsed the destinations. I had nowhere to go. Nothing to do. I could wake up at noon and nobody cared. I slept better in a room with five guys than I did at home upon my return.
For four days, I simply existed. I was me: flawed, human, accepted and loved. That is just the way they are.
I’d be a happy man if FROG had the resources and the time to attend each one of these events. Running down the list, you might ask why our tiny non-profit would want to hit up Bonnaroo or SXSW? Our focus is Guyana and international development, so how do any of these events relate to our work?
From Burning Man to Coachella to DEMO to TED, these are the gatherings of progressive minds, showcasing their latest ideas and boldest initiatives. Much of what happens at these places has nothing to do with our work but everything to do with our potential.
Attending conferences focusing primarily on non-profit work and international development, or workshops on fundraising and community organization fundamentally helps at every level of operation. But it’s these places that attract the brilliant minds and innovative thinkers that don’t traditionally work with us nor we they. With the massive potential for networking and influence from these atypical sources of inspiration, our capacity for good and growth is exponential.
The point being, sure it’s necessarty to attend the workshops and events related to activism and development, but we cannot forget to reach outside of our focus and embrace the people pushing ahead in other areas. There’s much to be learned and appreciated.
Bonnaroo
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is a four day annual music festival by Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment, first held in 2002. The festival is held on a 700 acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles southeast of Nashville, Tennessee. The main attractions of the festival are the multiple stages of live music, featuring a diverse array of musical styles including world music, hip hop, jazz, americana, bluegrass, country music, folk, gospel, reggae, electronica, and other alternative music. The festival began with a primary focus on jam bands, but has diversified greatly in recent years. The festival features craftsmen and artisans selling unique products, food and drink vendors, and many other activities put on by various sponsors. Sponsors of the festival are required to provide free activities for attendees.
Bumbershoot
Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America’s largest music and arts festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend at the 74-acre Seattle Center, which was built for the 1962 World’s Fair. Seattle Center includes indoor theaters, outdoor stages, McCaw Hall, and Memorial Stadium. The name of the festival was taken from bumbershoot, a colloquial term for umbrella, probably coined in the 19th century as a portmanteau of umbrella and parachute.
Burning Man
Burning Man is a project best known for an eight-day-long annual festival that takes place in Black Rock City, a temporary city on the playa of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, 90 miles north-northeast of Reno, ending on the American Labor Day holiday in September. Though the event’s specific location on the playa changes from year to year, the location has been quite constant in recent years. The event is described by organizers as an experiment in community, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance and takes its name from the ritual of burning a large wooden sculpture of a man on the sixth day. The event is organized by Black Rock City, LLC, under the guidance of founder Larry Harvey.
Coachella
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California. The event features many genres of music including alternative rock, hip hop, and electronica as well as large sculptural art. The event has several stages/tents set-up throughout the grounds, each playing live music continuously. The main stages are: Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi Tent, Mojave Tent, and the Sahara Tent.
The D Conference
Since its debut in 2003, The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference has brought to life the energy and excitement of the digital revolution in an unscripted, upfront and unparalleled way.
Conference creators and executive producers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher put the industry’s top players to the test during informal but pointed conversations about the impact digital technology will have on our lives now and in the future. The results are critical insights and relevant advice that stay with you well after the conference ends.
The top annual gathering of the digital world will return to the elegant Four Seasons Resort Aviara in Carlsbad, Calif., from May 27 to 29, 2008, for the sixth edition of D. Check back for more information on D6. Or, send us an email with the word “Subscribe” in the subject line and we will notify you when registration opens.
DEMO
DEMO is the premier launch venue for new products, technologies and companies. For more than 16 years, DEMO has established a reputation for identifying and presenting to an elite audience the products most likely to have a significant impact on the marketplace and market trends in the coming year. Each product is carefully screened and selected by DEMO’s Executive Producer, Chris Shipley, one of the top trend spotters in the personal technology product industry. DEMO is held two times a year; one in February, and one in September.
EMP Pop Conferences
The EMP Pop Conference is an annual event that debuted in 2002 and takes as its mission the idea of bringing academics, writers, performers, and other music lovers into an all too rare common conversation. Previous year’s conferences have resulted in the collections Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music, forthcoming later this year on Duke University Press, and This is Pop: In Search of the Elusive at Experience Music Project. The conference is sponsored by the Seattle Partnership for American Popular Music (EMP, KEXP 90.3 FM, and the University of Washington School of Music), with the help of a grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
Gel
Gel (Good Experience Live) is a conference focused on experience in all its forms — business, art, society, technology, and life.
The conference has been held annually in New York City since 2003, and the first European counterpart, euroGel 2006, has taken place in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 1 September 2006. Each conference has been hosted by Gel’s founder, Mark Hurst.
ideaCity
ideaCity, also known as ‘Canada’s Premiere Meeting of the Minds’, is an eclectic gathering of artists, adventurers, authors, cosmologists, doctors, designers, entertainers, filmmakers, inventors, magicians, musicians, scientists and technologists. Fifty of the planet’s brightest minds converge on Toronto each June to speak to a highly engaged audience. Only 497 are privileged to attend.
Produced and presented by Moses Znaimer, ideaCity is not themed around any one topic, issue or business. There are no scripted speeches or, breakout or parallel sessions. Rather, everyone is in one place and in on the same narrative. With extra-long schmooze breaks between sessions, and legendary parties each night, attendees have had an unprecedented opportunity to mingle with such notable speakers as Conrad Black, Barbara Gowdy, Michael Ignatieff, Douglas Coupland, Pamela Wallin, Pete Seeger, Robert Kennedy Jr., John Ralston Saul, Daniel Libeskind, Clayton Ruby, Romeo Dallaire and the late Peter Jennings.
Nantucket Conference
The Nantucket Conference convenes a small, invitation-only group of New England’s most creative and forward-thinking entrepreneurs, investors, technologists, and executives. There are several reasons why this region’s high-level high-tech players consider the Nantucket Conference a must-attend gathering.
First, there are unique opportunities for exchanging ideas and networking in a relaxing, informal environment. [They] acknowledge that much of the value of the Nantucket Conference comes from impromptu hallway conversations, serendipitous seatings at lunch, and walks around town. Nantucket is a place for having fun, doing business, and making new connections.
Second, sessions on Nantucket elicit the kind of real-world war stories and insight that you don’t hear at any other conference. All proceedings of the Conference are off-the-record, which gives presenters a chance to talk openly and honestly. [They] limit the use of PowerPoint and forbid blatant company pitches. Also, since there is precisely no difference in the caliber of people on stage and those in the audience, there is always plenty of opportunity at each session for interaction and debate.
Finally, this isn’t an event produced by a conference company that churns out dozens of cookie-cutter events each year. Nantucket is organized by a group of people — [their] Advisory Board — who actually work in the technology space every day.
The National Peace Corps Association Group Leaders Forum
An annual forum for the leadership of the 130+ Peace Corps RPCV groups to meet and discuss important topics relating to Peace Corps, the RPCV community and international development.
Nonprofit Technology Conference
Where people come “together at the Nonprofit Technology Conference to connect with colleagues, learn about the issues, share their knowledge with others, and, of course, have fun. [They] talked about what works, what doesn’t work, and what is in the works when it comes to using technology in the nonprofit sector to further your cause.
O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference
ETech balances pie-in-the-sky theorizing with practical, real-world information and conversation. Our tutorials and breakout sessions will help you inject magic into your own projects, while keynotes and hallway conversation will hopefully spark enough unconventional thinking to change how you see your world.
Penny Arcade Expo
The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is an annual gamer festival held in Washington. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show that gave equal attention to video gamers, computer gamers, and tabletop gamers. No such show existed, so PAX was born.
Created in 2004, PAX has doubled in size each successive year and has grown into a weekend-long celebration of gamer culture. Defining characteristics include game-inspired concerts, panels on game industry topics, exhibitor booths, after-hours parties, tournaments, and freeplay areas.
PICA - TBA
PICA acknowledges and advances new developments in contemporary art while fostering the creative explorations of artists and audiences. Established in 1995 by a committed group of artists and patrons, PICA features emerging regional, national, and international artists in all disciplines, bridging the gap between historically-focused collecting institutions, commercial galleries and performing arts presenters. PICA’s enduring passion adds significant value to the arts ecology of the region.
Pop!Tech
Conversation and dialogue are key parts of the Pop!Tech experience. Increasingly, we’ve been working to take the best of the insights and magical moments that happen in Camden, and share them with new communities throughout the world. We’re doing this through books, television, live “satellite” events, and more. Thus, even as the Pop!Tech conference draws to a close, the Pop!Tech conversation continues to inspire people around the world.
Pop!Tech champions the work of exceptional thinkers, entrepreneurs, activists, and performers but we are always looking for new and inspiring speakers to bring to the Pop!Tech stage. We invite you to let us know about any amazing individuals who you feel would be a strong candidate for presenting at future Pop!Techs. Please send an email with relevant links and background information to June Sung.
RESFest
RESFest was founded in 1996, and has become the most prominent digital film festival in North America. It is a leading global showcase of new digital filmmakers alongside England’s onedotzero festival. The festival now tours the world and in 2005 traveled to 35 cities in the USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Australia, Brazil and in various cities in Europe, Asia and Africa. A large part of the festival’s current content focuses on cutting-edge music videos and short films, and directors like Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham and Jonathan Glazer have all had their catalogs of work showcased at RESFest over the years.
The Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival in the United States and ranks alongside the Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Toronto film festivals as one of the most prestigious in the world. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, Utah as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is the premier showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival comprises competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, and a group of non-competitive showcase sections, including the Sundance Online Film Festival.
Supernova Conference
(via supernova2007.com) “I put together the first Supernova conference three years ago because, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, we all knew something was happening here, but we didn’t know what it was. My conviction was that underneath all the changes - business becoming increasingly distributed, users becoming more knowledgeable, old industry models collapsing, and everything and everybody becoming networked - is one fundamental phenomenon: decentralization.
At Supernova, we bring together business, government, and technology thought leaders to understand how decentralization and pervasive connectivity are changing our world.”
SXSW
South by Southwest is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas. Begun in 1987, SXSW is centered around the downtown Austin Convention Center and each of the three parts run relatively independently, with different start and end dates. SXSW is one of the largest music festivals in the United States, with more than 1,400 performers playing dozens of venues around Austin over four days in March. SXSW is the highest money making public event for the Austin economy, bringing in more revenues than Austin City Limits Music Festival and the Texas Longhorn football home football games.
In 1994 SXSW added Film and Interactive conferences. SXSW Film has become one of the world’s premiere film festivals, focusing on new directing talent. Similarly, SXSW Interactive has attracted a strong following among Web creators and entrepreneurs.
TED
TED (Technology Entertainment Design) is an annual conference held in Monterey, California and recently, semi-annually in other cities around the world. TED describes itself as a “group of remarkable people that gather to exchange ideas of incalculable value”. Its lectures cover a broad set of topics including science, arts, politics, global issues, architecture, music and more. The speakers themselves are from a wide variety of communities and disciplines. The TED Conference also has a companion conference, TED Global, held in varying locations.
